Watson reached the second round of the French Open last year before losing 6-1 6-3 to 16th seed Kaia Kanepi. She was the first British woman to progress that far at the tournament since 1994.

Watson also made the second round of her last WTA Tour event, the Estoril Open, before suffering a 6-3 6-1 defeat against fourth seed Petra Cetovska.

The news was not so good for Laura Robson, however, as she squandered a clear opportunity to play her way into the main draw for Roland Garros.

Robson was a set ahead and looking comfortable midway through the second against her Czech opponent Karolina Pliskova, but fell apart at the end of success sets to eventually succumb to a 4-6 7-5 6-4 defeat to the 20-year-old.